UPDATE: Possible misspent Port Mann funds under scope

The province is taking a hard look at allegations that $150 million was misspent during the construction of the Port Mann Bridge.

“There are very concerning allegations,” said Municipal Affairs and Housing Minister Selena Robinson during a scrum in Vancouver Thursday afternoon.

Pressed for exactly that the province planned on doing, Robinson said she would “leave it up to others to language it,” saying only that the province was “taking a serious look.”

The statement is in response to a CBC News report Thursday that says a lack of oversight resulted in the B.C. government overpaying millions for the Port Mann. The bridge’s operator, the Transportation Investment Corporation, has denied a lack of oversight but has reportedly asked the auditor general to review its protocols.

The corporation is winding down its role, after the NDP provincial government made good on a campaign promise and eliminated tolls on the Port Mann and Golden Ears crossings as of Sept. 1.

Since it opened in 2012, the Port Mann has been plagued with issues, from ice bombs falling from its cables and crashing onto cars below, to concerns that toll revenues were not high enough. The bridge – and the Highway 1 project that went with it – cost the province $3.3 billion and was the largest infrastructure project in the province’s history.